AFC pretenders or contenders: Aaron Rodgers makes case for Pittsburgh Steelers in debut

Aaron Rodgers got his victory lap around MetLife Stadium that he deserved after a shootout against his former team. He embraced all of the emotions and excitement of beating the New York Jets in a 34-32 win on Sunday in his first meeting against the Jets. And he didn’t mince his words when it came to talking about how he felt getting the win. 

“I was happy to beat everyone associated with the Jets,” Rodgers said after the win. 

He earned that and with it might have garnered a little bit more respect after facing criticism over his durability in his 21st season in the NFL. After seeing Rodgers in action for the first time in his new threads, did he just give fans a lot more faith he will in fact carry them to a championship? The Pittsburgh Steelers look like a team that will disturb the AFC standings after the win. Here’s why Rodgers might have just given a boost to a team that needed one. 

New AFC power rankings after Aaron Rodgers silences critics with Week 1 win

AFC Power Rankings after Aaron Rodgers' Steelers debut

The Steelers get a bump in the AFC proverbial standings in my book after that win. I was one of those people that thought this was going to be a disaster. After seeing Week 1, I see how the Steelers can be a team to bet in the AFC this year. I’m not saying they’re headed to the Super Bowl or anything, but they could be a sleeper. 

The Kansas City Chiefs look human this year and the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills look like they could be dangerous again. The Cincinnati Bengals showed a lot of holes in their team, so I’m not nearly as confident in them as I was. That said, the rest of the AFC is in the air and the Steelers made their claim as one of the top teams after dominating the Jets.

Pittsburgh Steelers offensive efficiency makes them a solid contender in AFC

It was always going to be hard for the Pittsburgh Steelers to contend in the AFC, let alone the AFC North. Yet, Rodgers’ debut proved this Steelers offense is in fact better with him. You could make the argument we don’t have a big enough sample size with it being Week 1, but the Jets have a really good defense. 

Rodgers finished with 244 yards and four touchdowns in the win. While he was sacked four times, overall, this offense looked the best it has since Ben Roethlisberger was under center. That means the rest of the AFC should be on alert for the Steelers because they just might in fact, be back. 

If I had to rank where I think Pittsburgh is after Week 1, I’d say they went from being outside the playoff bubble to proving they could be one of the first wild card spots. While it was a good start, not all was perfect for the Steelers and Rodgers. 

Red flags were prevalent in Aaron Rodgers debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers

As good as Pittsburgh looked, it wasn’t all great for them in their first game of the season. Rodgers hype aside, this team has some defensive problems to fix before truly putting themselves in the conversation of running the AFC. Their defense gave up 32 points and though they contained Justin Fields as a passer, struggled to slow down the run. 

They gave up 182 rushing yards by the Jets with all but one of their touchdowns coming on the ground. If they plan on being a solid team in the AFC, they can’t be giving up a lot of rushing yards per game. The Ravens have one of the most lethal backfields, the Bills have James Cook, Jacksonville’s two-headed monster in the backfield looks like it could be a problem. 

The flip side to that is they didn’t have a great rushing attack either. They finished with just 53 rushing yards. They need a better run game and run defense moving forward to be taken seriously as an AFC contender otherwise, Rodgers’ addition will only take them so far.